6:00am Friday 12th February 2010
By Joe Willis
CLAIMS and counter claims have been made in a row over efforts to restore flights from a North-East airport to Heathrow.
Labour was yesterday accused of a staggering failure after the Tories revealed that no application had been made for a public service obligation (PSO), which could protect flights from Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) to the London hub.
The Tories said Labour’s inaction over the issue a year after bmi pulled the plug on its service was an example of how the Government had let the region down.
However, Labour MPs last night responded by accusing the Tories of issuing misleading statements in an attempt to score political points.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis confirmed that no PSO had been applied for after receiving a parliamentary question from Conservative Shadow Minister Lord Bates.
Lord Bates said: “The fact that we are now almost a year on from the announcement from bmi that they were ending the vital link to Heathrow, and the Prime Minister and Labour politicians queued up to pledge their support for restoring the link and yet no PSO has even been applied for is a staggering failure.”
He added: “The estimated annual costs of a PSO was in the region of £1m per year, which I would have thought offered significant value for money in the present climate.”
In response, Stockton North MP Frank Cook said the Tories were well aware that experts had already found that a PSO was not a viable option.
He said: “It should be remembered, of course, that this is the same Lord Bates who last year questioned whether there was any need for the airport at all.”
Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson said building a third runway at Heathrow would help regional airports connect to the capital, however the Tories opposed the policy.
A spokesman for DTVA said it was disappointing that comments should be made about the sustainability of the airport when there had been a number of positive developments in recent months.
A report by RDC Aviation for regional development agency One North East found that a PSO could cost the region £20m to set up, plus between £1m and £2m a year to run.
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